Always By Your Side
by soldierotaku392
Summary: From Alicia to Julian with love, written by the maker of "The Island". Cover by Alicia herself.


Azure Sketch and Lightning Flash were a lovely couple. They spent almost every moment they had with each other and seemed inseparable. The two have been dating a little over three and a half years now and their love only grew stronger by the day. Any pony could see that these two were meant for each other.

But as of lately Lightning Flash has been rather distant, zoning out when he was with Azure or not answering phone calls at times. Although Lightning's behavior was rather strange Azure loved him too much to notice.

One dark cloudy day, however, Azure was in a hurry to Lightning Flash's house. She's been trying to get a hold of him all day, but hasn't gotten any response. This wan't like him at all, she knew something was wrong.

After arriving at her destination Azure was surprised to find the front door open. She slowly walked in and saw that the house was fine, nothing was gone nor damaged. Azure made her way to Lightning's room and knocks on his door.

"Lightning, are you there? Is everything okay?" She asks softly unsure if he was there or not.

She put an ear to the door when she thinks she hears Lightning crying. Afterwards a familiar stallion's voice calls back.

"Not now Azure, I just want to be alone. And I don't feel like talking either." Lightning says gruffly.

Azure got worried, she's never heard Lightning talk like this before. What was bothering him to make him act this way? Why didn't he talk to her? He knew that if he ever had a problem she would help him as best she could.

Suddenly, Azure heard a loud thump inside Lightning's room and hears him groan in pain. Without a second thought she bursts into his room to be shocked and horrified by what she saw.

Lightning's wrists were slit open and there was a small pool of blood around his hooves. His face was contorted in pain and he writhed in torment. At first Azure was frozen on the spot but realizing that Lightning was in danger she immediately sprung into action.

Going to the kitchen she opened all the drawers and cabinets until she found some towels. After quickly wetting some of them with warm water she searched for some peroxide and gauze wrapping. Galloping back to Lightning she began applying pressure to his wounded wrists to stop the bleeding.

"Azure, I'm sorry. I didn't-" He started but slowly he began fading.

Azure knew that if that happened Lightning was done for so she did her best to keep him conscious by talking to him.

"Hey, it's alright. Just don't fall asleep alright? I was thinking we could go on a picnic this week. If the weather ponies decide to keep the sky clear." She said as calmly as possible.

Azure wanted to keep Lightning focused on something positive lest his emotions tip him over the edge.

"I-I think it's supposed to rain all this week. But I heard that the weekend would have some sun." Lightning said weakly, he wasn't fully aware of the situation so he followed the conversation.

"Well, what should we bring? Would you like some hay fries? I could make some of those and maybe you could make some daisy sandwiches." Azure continued now cleaning the wound so she could put on the gauze wrapping.

"Um, okay. But you prefer daffodil don't you? Wait, should we get something from Sugar Cube Corner?" He answered more clearly.

"Yeah, we could get some cupcakes. Watermelon for me and you like Fudge right?" Azure questioned one final time as she wrapped the gauze around Lightning's wrists.

"That sounds great, but what are you doing here?" Lightning questioned now fully conscious.

Azure took a deep breath of relief and sat down. Her hooves wouldn't stop shaking and her heart beat was going faster than a Wonder Bolt. After calming down she explained that Lightning wasn't responding to any of her calls so she decided to some over and see what was wrong. After finding the front door open and seeing nothing seemed to have happened she ventured to his room where she saw Lightning in his former state.

As Lightning was listening he dropped his head down and refused to look at Azure.

"What in Equestria were you doing?" Azure asked frantically.

"Hm, you think we're missing anything else? For the picnic I mean." Lightning replied evasively.

"Lightning this is serious!" Azure said a little upset.

Once more Lightning dropped his head to the ground and didn't look at Azure. He knew what he was about to say would dismay Azure even more. But seeing no there option he gave in.

"I… was trying to kill myself." Lightning answered solemnly.

"W-What? Why?" Azure asked stunned.

At first there was silence, then Azure heard sniffling. She looked over at Lightning to find tears falling freely from his eyes, his body was jerking slightly as he was holding in his cries of sadness. She was about to say something when Lightning collapsed his head on Azure's shoulder and cried.

"A-Azure, I feel- I feel like no one cares about me. I could just disappear and no one would notice." Lightning said in between sobs.

Now it was Azure who had burst into tears. She felt awful seeing her love like this. So, she hugged him as tightly as she could and started speaking from her heart.

"I don't know why you feel as if no pony cares about you, but I know one pony who thinks the world of you no matter what you say or do." Azure admitted.

"Who?" Lightning questioned somberly.

"Me, Lightning no matter what happens I'll be with you. Rain or shine, Hell or high water. I will always stand at you side." Azure said as she looked into Lightning's eyes, then she pulled him into a kiss.

At that moment time seemed to melt away. They were no longer in Lightning's house or in Equestria. Where were they? With each other and thats all that mattered. They sat there in that one embrace fearing that if they let go they would lose each other. But they needed air so they broke apart and immediately hugged each other.

It has been a week since Lightning's attempt and he's gotten much better since then. His dodgy behavior ceased to appear and at times he seemed more invested with Azure than she was with him, as if it were possible. He's also picked up the habit of walking once every day around town either by himself or with Azure.

But right now they were going on a picnic. They walked around looking for a place to settle down and eat. The sun shone brightly down upon the couple, only a few white clouds were around and the sky was as blue as the sea.

"How about right here? Not to many ponies around, we'll be mostly by ourselves." Azure suggested a spot.

"Okay, looks good to me." Lightning agreed.

They picked a nice shady spot under a big oak tree. They took out a blanket from the basket and unfolded it on the ground. After getting out the hay fries, sandwiches, and cupcakes they began eating. They were talking about various subjects such as Azure artist career and how Lightning's martial arts was coming along.

"I'm telling you, you should try to find some pony who could make an art gallery of your work. It would be a great first step." Lightning tried suggesting.

"I don't know, to me drawing is more of a hobby. But I guess I could give it a shot. See where it takes me." Azure considered.

"But what about you? You're already a black belt right? Maybe you could think about a opening your own martial arts school?" She added.

"Hm, I don't know. It's kind of a nice thought though." Lightning said.

For the whole afternoon they sat and talked, relishing every moment they spent together.


End file.
